British Pensions - Who is Entitled?

Who is Entitled to a British State Pension?

If you retire before 6th April 2010:

There are two conditions you have to meet:

• You must either: have one qualifying year since 6th April 1975
• To get the full rate Basic Pension you must have qualifying years for about 90% of the years in your working life (39 for women, 44 for men).
• To get the minimum Basic Pension payable (25%) you normally need 10 or 11 qualifying years of contributions to the National Insurance fund.
• It may be possible for you to pay Class 2 or Class 3 contributions for previous years to enable you either to qualify for a Basic Pension at the minimum rate or to increase the rate of the Basic Pension for which you have qualified.
• You can get a state pension forecast which will let you know how many years of contributions you have and how you can supplement these.

If you retire after 6 April 2010:

• From 5th April 2010, men born on or after April 6th 1945 and women born on or after April 6th,1950 and therefore who reach pension age on and after April 6th 2010, will receive a full pension after having made just 30 years of full National Insurance contributions.
• People who reach pension age on and after 6t h April 2010 will have their pension entitlement expressed as a fraction of 30, not as a percentage. E.g. for 1 year's contribution one will be entitled to 1/30th of the basic age pension, for 11 years 11/30ths and so on up to a full pension for 30 years contributions
• So the minimum UK age pension payable from 6th. April 2010 will be 1/30th and this will be achieved after just 1 year's pension contribution is credited to your National Insurance account
• Deferring a pension payment will not enable one to get this higher rate of pension, if one's 65th or 60th women's birthdays fall prior to the 6th April 2010, although such pension candidates can still defer their pension payment to achieve a greater pension, eventually. They will come under the current rules, which will be made redundant after 6th April 2010.
• The rules re:  payment of voluntary contributions will stay the same. One has to have lived and or worked in the UK for a total of 3 years before one can make any additional voluntary contributions to boost a UK pension entitlement.
• To be able to pay the much cheaper Class 2 Voluntary contribuitions (currently about £110/year) you have to have been in employment in the UK before leaving for Canada and be in employment in Canada. Otherwise, you have to pay the Class 3 Voluntary Contaributions, which range from $309/year in 1996 up to over £400/year currently.
• We can give members limited assistance with obtaining their rightful pension.